Here we go again in Korea.

Japchae are potato glass noodles sauted with coloured vegetables (always balance between greens, reds and whites), and eggs. Usually served as a side dish, but I can eat a full plate by myself quite easily. All ingredients are cooked separately, and then assembled and mixed to the hot noodles the very last moment before serving.

Serves 4

Ready in 40 mins

100 gram onion roughly sliced

100 grams carrots (filangé)

100 grams zucchini (filangé)

100 grams button mushrooms (sliced)

1 minced garlic clove

150 grams potato glass noodles (or soya or rice in case you can’t find them)

2 eggs

vegetable oil (as needed)

salt

Seasoning sauce:

4 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

2 tbs sesame oil

In a pan with 2 tbs of vegetable oil fry separately all vegetables for 5/6 minutes (until lightly translucent but not overcooked), season with salt before setting aside and letting cool.

Separate yolks and whites, lightly beat them in 2 separate bowl.

Heat 1 tbs of vegetable oil in a pan and cook the whites on both side for a couple of minutes (until lightly crunchy). Repeate with the yolks. Slice both frittatas into 1 cm thick slices. Set aside.

Cook the glassnoodles as per directions in boiling water. Drain and wash them under running fresh water. Drain well.

Meanwhile mix in a small bowl the ingredients for the seasoning sauce.

Heat 2 tbs of vegetable oil, fry the minced garlic for 30 seconds and add the glassnoodles. Stir fry, medium heat, for 1 minute. Add the sauce and stir fry for further 2 minutes. Retain from heat and add vegetables and sliced eggs. Mix well and serve.

A quick and super-simple Italian recipe. Spaghetti with clams is always making everyone happy. Don’t take out the garlic, the taste is all there. A pinch of crushed chill pepper would be perfect, but only to those who like hot things.

Serves 4

Ready in 30 minutes

1 kg clams

400 grams spaghetti (size n. 5)

1 garlic clove minced

2 tbs parsley, minced

half glass of white wine

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

To prepare clams, you need to wash them under running water.

Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the minced gralic.

Add the clams, cover with a lid and let them open up (it should take 5/6 minutes).

Once they are opened, uncover, and add the wine.

Let simmer at medium heat for further 7/8 minutes or until the smeel of wine is not alcoholic anymore (you will need the juices so dont let them evaporate too much).

Retain from fire and add the fresh chopped parsley.

Cook the pasta according to directions in salted boiling water, drain and add the pasta to the clams pan.

On medium heat sauté them for a couple of minutes and serve.

Those are the moments in which I regret I do not own a brick oven. But modern houses, it’s clear, are not for this old-fashioned ovens. The schiacciata should taste of stone and wood, like things well made, like grandmothers would. I tried to transfer as much as possible the taste of it and baking them at two different temperatures helps (in a brick oven in fact the heat is not constant but slowly decreasing since you put the schiacciate inside).

This is Rosa’s recipe, certified 100% wonderful Sicilian woman, who taught me patiently all secrets and tricks, including the typical spiral sealing. I am still a dummy when it comes to sealing it but “with practice – Rosa says – sooner or later I will succeed”. Lol.

Makes 7/8 schiacciate

Ready in 1H+proofing

Circa 700 grams of pizza dough made with:

400 grams semolina flour

100 grams bread flour

7 grams dried yeast

2 tbs sugar

Lukewarm ater (as needed)

Salt

Check instructions here: Pizza Dough

800 grams curly salad

400 grams mozzarella cheese grated

600 grams fresh (fennel) sausage meat

1 big onion

2 potatoes

Extra virgin olive oil

salt and pepper

Slice finely the onion and the potatoes.

Open the sausage and cut it in chunks.

Wash the salad and chop it roughly.

Grate the mozzarella cheese.

Pre Heat oven at 220° C.

After first proofing is concluded. Punch the dough, knead for a couple of minutes and divide it into balls 150 grams each circa. Roll each ball with a rolling pin to 1mm thick (dust the surface with flour).

Put the potato slices and the sliced onion on a half of the rolled dough.

Add one or two handfuls of salad, onions, and top with the sausage and finally with the grated mozzarella.

Season with salt and pepper and with 2 tbs of olive oil.

Fold the schiacciata with the other half of the rolled dough and seal it well (if you can with the typical decoration – refer to the pictures below).

Bake for 10 minutes at 220° C (conventional oven NOT fan-assisted). Reduce heat at 150° and bake for further 15 minutes (leave the oven door slightly open to let the steam out).

Ok, not really a diet solution but hey, this is incredibily awesome. Easy to make and so tasteful that you can organize an entire dinner with rivers of beers and fried sfincitelli. You can also substitute the cooked ham with anchovies, or salame or any other filling yo might like (cheese too).

500 grams ready pizza dough (Recipe here)

150 grams cooked ham (or 10 anchovies fillets)

500 ml frying oil

After the first proofing, punch the dough and divide it into 10 balls 50 grams each. Divide the ham into 10 portions of 15 grams each. Take each dough ball in your hand palm and press at the center one portion of ham (or one anchovie fillet). Close the dough and seal well.

Let it proof again for further 20 minutes before cooking.

Meanwhile heat the frying oil to 180° C, plunge gently the balls onto the hot oil. Deep-fry them for 3 minutes all in all (always keep the ball in movement by turning the oil into the pan with a spoon).

60 pcs circa

ready in 1H30 mins

350 gr mostarda

1,5 kilo pumpkin

180 gr parmesan cheese, grated

salt and pepper

a pinch of nutmeg powder

10 crunchy amaretti biscuits

1 or 2 eggs (dpeending on final consistency)

Fresh Pasta

600 grams all purpose flour

6 eggs + 1 egg yolk

half tbs of salt

In a container mix all ingredients for the fresh pasta and knead for 10 minute. Set aside well covered for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile peel the pumpkin and cook it until the meati s tender in one of these 2 ways:

• microwave oven: 25 minutes circa max power
• normal oven at 160° C for 40 minutes circa

Let it cool then mash it in a mixer. Set aside.

In a mixer, mix mostarda (well drained), crushed amarettis, one egg (you might add the 2nd one at a later stage depending on the consistency of the filling), salt and pepper, parmesan cheese, nutmeg.

Add the pumpkin and mix well. Consistency should be like a little softer than a potato pure. If too firm, add the remaining egg.

Using a pasta machine, roll the pasta to 1 mm thick.

Put it on a floured surface, on the below half put a tbs of pumpkin filling every 15 cm, flip the other half of the pasta above it and seal well (as shown in pictures).

Cut with a knife or a rolled cutter at the desired shape (it can be square or half-circled), final tortelli should be 7×5 cm circa.

Cook in hot and salted boiling water for 6 minutes.

Season with fried butter (fry it with a few fresh sage leaves), and grated parmesan.

Tteokbokki is the most popular Korean street-food. In Korea they have it when they are particularly stressed  it is said they help in releasing all bad energy: true? Dunno, I just think they are crazy good.

Soft rice cakes, cooked in a spicy and hot chili pepper sauce. Many other ingredients are paired: hard-boiled eggs, fish cakes, even sausages and melted cheese. The recipe that follow is very basic and I opted for the eggs version (cause this is the best in my opinion and the simplest on top).

Careful: you will need got-jang (easily found in international grocery stores and even on amazon). Rice cakes can be found deep-frozen in international grocery stores, but i decided to push boundaries further and I made them home: they are a piece of G-O-O-D-N-E-S-S!!!

Serves 4

ready in 20 minutes (with rice cakes ready)

500 grams Tteok (here the recipe)

800 ml water

3 salted anchovies (washed and cleaned)

1 leave of Kombu seaweed (if available)

salt (as needed)

70 grams of gochujang (chilli pepper paste)

1 tbs chilli pepper powder

1 tbs sugar

4 spring onions (in 2 cm wide chunks)

4 hard boiled eggs

In a small bowl mix well the chilli pepper cream, with the chilli pepper powder and the sugar.

Menawhile bring to a boil the water with the anchovies and the kombu seaweed and half tbs of salt. Boil for 7/8 minute. Retain the seaweed and clean the foam with a slotted spoon.

Add the rice cakes, the chilli pepper mixture and bring to a boil. Let simmer – high heat – for 5 minutes.

Add the green onions. SImmer for further 5 minutes or until the sauce thickens enough. Serve.

1 kilo pumpkin flesh (the weight refers to clean pumpkin)

300 grams all purpose flour

50 grams semolina

1 egg

1 tbs salt

60 grams unsalted butter

5/6 sage leaves

40 grams smoked scamorza cheese grated

Cook the pumpkin into the oven (static 180° C), for 30 minutes circa or until soft – careful it doesn’t get brown in case lower the heat (alternatively you can cook it in a microwave oven with no water, as it is, for circa 20 minuti ad the highest power).

Still warm, mash them with a potato masher. Set aside and allow to cool. Add the flours, salt and knead well. Proceed as indicated in the Potato Dumplings (Gnocchi di Patate) recipe.

Melt the butter at medium heat with the sage leaves and let the fry until crispy.

Cook the gnocchi in hot boiling salted water and drain them with a colander as soon as they get on the surface.

Season them with the butter. Pour onto plates and top with the garted smoked scamorza cheese.

Serves 4

Ready in 40 minutes

300 grams fresh pork sausage (peeled)

2 tbs fennel seeds

1 chopped onion

1/3 glass white wine

1 pinch of saffron

200 grams tomato puree

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

fresh fennel leaves roughly chopped

120 grams of grated pecorino cheese

350 grams sardinian gnocchi

Fry the onion into the olive oil until transulcent.

Add the sausage and the extra fennel seeds, cook until the jiuces have evaporated.

Add the white wine and let evaporate completely before adding the tomato puree (and half gtralss of water).

Simmer at medium heat for 10/12 minutes or until the sauce thickens a little. Add the saffron, the fennel leaves, season with salt. And retain from fire.

Cook the pasta as per directions. Drain well and add them to the sauce. Add the grated pecorino cheese, mix well and serve.

Moddizzosu is a potato bread typical of Sardinia. Quick and easy to make it can be preserved for months in a freezer and goes back to its original status once unfrozen.

Usually accompanied by salami or cheese, I use ita s a normal bread. And it is a life line when I come back home late at night and I do not have enough to eat! Double the quantities believe they will not last too much!

10 pcs

ready in 30 minutes

proofing 3 hours

400 grams durum wheat semolina

100 grams bread flour

250 grams boiled potatoes peeled

50 grams lard

10 grams dry yeast

1 tsp salt

2 tsps sugar

warm water (as needed)

In a container put semolina, flour, sugar, salt, yeast and lard (room temperature). Mash the potatoes with a potato masher and put them into the container.

Slowly add the water and knead until it gets into a soft but compact dough. Knead for 8/10 minutes. Put in a container and cover with cling film to allow the first proofing (approx 2 hours).

Punch the dough and divide into small balls (100/120 grams each). Flatten each ball with a rolling pin up to 6/7 mm. Set on a dripping pan coasted with parchment paper and allow second proofing for another hour.

Bake at 200° C for 10/12 minutes – careful they do not get too brown.

Still warm, preserve them in plastic bags. You can deep freeze them for 6 months. A few second in a microwave oven and they will get back to the same out-of-oven fragrance.

This soup is good in winter (hot) and in summer (warm). Adding the Feta cheese is up to you, the lemon zest is giving to the overall soup a great taste already. In Italy we eat lentils for NYE, they say it bring you loads of money. Not true. But never give up traditions! This version will shift the eating moment from a traditional need to a pure pleasure.

Serves 4

Ready in 1H

300 grams brown lentils

200 grams Feta cheese

1 small onion

2 spring onions

1 small red bell pepper

1 bay leaf

1 cinnamon stick

grated lemon zest

1 tbs of tomato paste

3 tbs white vinegar

1 lt stock (or water + stock cubes at your choice)

3 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Chop roughly the onion and the spring onions. Dice the bell pepper.

Heat the olive oil and stir-fry the onions and the red bell pepper.

Meanwhile wash the lentils under running water for a couple of minutes. Add them to the onion and red bell pepper mixture. Fry for 5/6 minutes high heat stirring.

Add the vinegar and let it evaporate completely (i twill take a couple of minutes).

Add the tomato paste, the stock, the bay leaf and the cinnamon stick. Simmer for 45 minutes (or until the lentils are soft).

Add the grated lemon zest and 50 grams of Feta cheese and let simmer stirring well until the Feta cheese melts down.

Serve hot (or warm), topped with the remaining Feta cheese crumbled and a pinch of fresh lemon zest.